An Old Friend
by ZahraQ
Summary: When they returned to Narnia to help Caspian, they thought everyone they knew was dead but was that really so?


**[A/N] Honestly speaking, this is my first real (or rather successful) attempt at writing something short, so I would love any praise or criticism. :) I have tried writing short stories before but somehow they all ended up as full-length novels.  
**

**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Chronicles Of Narnia.

**An Old Friend**

Edmund's P.O.V.

The news of Caspian's victory reached every corner of Narnia within two days. The Telmarine Castle was abuzz with all the preparations that had to be done for the meeting Aslan had called on the morrow.

The Telmarine Castle looked far more splendid and luxurious than it had seemed to me the night we had attacked it. A joyous thing that we had found was that several of the Narnians left behind the night of the raid were alive though in captivity. Miraz had kept them in captivity to interrogate them. Of course none of them had uttered a word even though they had been brutally tortured. It was a good thing to see the happiness on the families of the captive Narnians. Lucy had healed all of them and now they were enjoying the newly reclaimed freedom of Narnia. The only thing darkening Peter, Susan, Lucy and My joy was the absence of our friends. We all dearly missed Mr. and Mrs. Beaver, Oreius, Mr. Tumnus and everyone else we had known during the Golden Age. It created a lump in everyone of us' throat to think that no one we knew was alive anymore.

There were several questions on my mind which I wanted to ask Caspian, so, I was glad when, after lunch, he knocked on the door of the room Peter and I were sharing.

"Your majesties, are you both comfortable with the provided accommodation?" He asked on entering our room.

"Yes, very much. Thank you Caspian." Peter thanked him graciously.

After a few minutes' discussion on various matters of the court, Caspian offered to fetch the girls and give us a tour of the Castle.

We both agreed quickly and it was less than ten minutes before we were walking down the corridor after exiting the throne room.

"Thank you, dear lady." Lucy thanked a little girl after accepting a bouquet of bright pink chrysanthemums. It was probably her fourteenth. Susan had received eleven so far; Peter eight and I got seven. Getting the least did not bother me in the least but what bothered me was the nervousness they felt when around me.

I asked Caspian, "Caspian, do all these children stay here in the castle?"

Caspian shook his head saying, "No, your majesty. They have just come to the castle to see you all. Though my ancestors had tried their best to suppress the tales of Old Narnia, many of the children have heard them and they wanted to see you all so much that I did not have the heart to refuse them."

"Really. Can we meet them? All of them?" Lucy asked enthusiastically. We all smiled at her enthusiasm and Caspian asked a man to get all the children assembled in the west garden.

Another twenty minutes later we walked into the West garden where many children were sitting or running about or chattering away among themselves. There were not just Telmarine children but also Narnians. None of them were older than me.

As soon as we were spotted, pin drop silence fell over them. They all looked at us with the same wide-eyed awe as they had looked at us with while giving the bouquets.

"Hello everyone." Lucy called out as a friend would call out to her friends and not as a queen would talk to her subjects.

I couldn't resist the smile that came to my lips when I saw Lucy's joy. She seemed to be radiating happiness. Susan too was a natural at mingling with the people. Peter, though not as good as the girls, was still far better than me as I stood awkwardly there. I was unsure of what to do and they seemed to be hesitant in coming near me.

A little squirrel and a brown haired boy came up to me and asked timidly, "Are you King Edmund the Just?"

I answered, smiling my most friendly smile, "Yes, good my cousin."

I think the term 'cousin' confused the boy because he looked up at me strangely and asked, "Cousin? But I am not related to you…Your Majesty…"

Lucy, Susan, Peter, Caspian, I and several older children and the Narnians in the group laughed while the squirrel that had accompanied him told him that we called all our subjects 'cousins.'

"Even the minators?" He asked with wide, innocent eyes. I couldn't blame him for being afraid of them. They were frightening to some extent.

"Yes, even the minotaurs." Susan said smiling at him kindly.

Of course he still couldn't understand why we called everyone cousin but everyone, including he, himself, ignored it and started talking to us again. It was not long before we were all sitting on the soft green grass and Susan was telling the children the story of the first Battle of Beruna. The way they looked at me when Susan told them of the incident of me breaking the Witch's wand made me feel awkward. I felt like hiding my face somewhere but did not do anything like that and graciously accepted all the praise as was befitting a King.

I don't know how but somehow we drifted off to talking about the stories of our period that was not very clear or detailed. It was mostly Susan and Lucy who did the story-telling part, Peter and I needing to speak only when the story was exclusively battle-centric.

At one point a girl, on hearing one of the pranks I had played, asked, "If King Edmund was so mischievous why is he known as 'Justice enraged'?"

I was taken aback by this question. What had they heard about me exactly?

When she saw my wide-eyed shock, she mistook it for anger and hid behind a barely a year older girl who seemed to be her sister.

Susan and Lucy, though, were not fooled. Lucy raised an eyebrow at me and then turned towards the children asking, "Is that why you all were so hesitant around him?"

They all nodded, including, much to my surprise, Caspian.

Lucy laughed and said, "King Edmund's anger was directed against those who deserved it. Not on our loyal subjects or anyone who was innocent."

"Are you angry with us?" Another boy asked me and then quickly threw in a 'Your Majesty'

"No, why should I?" I asked him, amused.

"Because we are Telmarines."

"I do not think that would enrage me. Moreover, I firmly believe you all are a Narnian at heart." It continued for a few minutes before everyone relaxed and then I heard several of the tales about me that had frightened everyone.

While I was appalled to hear them, Lucy couldn't help giggling at those. Seriously, when did I ever tear anyone's head with my bare hands? Susan, mercifully, took my side and explained the details in such a way that my anger took the form of justified wrath rather than pointless fury.

Strangely, I was happy to be able to talk to the children so frankly. A little centaur mare was the first one to ask me a question directly. To be honest, I hoped no one else would ask another question after this one. "King Edmund?" she asked, "Can you please tell us the story of the Cherry dryad? I heard she was a very good friend of yours and you, Phillip the horse and she were nearly inseparable and undefeatable in battles."

Before I could respond Lucy said clapping her hands, "Oh yes, Edmund, please do."

"Why don't you? You are better at telling stories. Besides you know the story just as well as me."

"No, Ed. I think you should tell them since, Lady Lucy was one of your closest friends." Susan said and Peter nodded, agreeing with her.

"Alright." I reluctantly agreed knowing that they wouldn't let it go till I told them. So I began.

"It was in the seventh week after our Coronation that we first saw Lady Cherrisa, mother of Lady Lucy. She was the last one to visit the court. On entering, she bowed low before us.

'Rise, Lady Cherrisa.' Susan said gently.

'Your Majesties' Lady Cherrisa replied as she stood. The nymphs, Naiads and Dryads were usually very cheerful people, giggling at nothing and living their long, blessed life happily. But Lady Cherrisa was very different that day. Her skin, which was of the same color as the bark of her tree, looked a bit too wrinkled for a dryad. She swayed more than normal with the light breeze and her hair, tangled with leaves and petals and twigs was flat on her back.

'Speak out your concerns, good my Lady.' Peter said soothingly when we saw her hesitation.

For a moment she did not say anything, but then abruptly broke down and said in one go, "Your Majesties please save my daughter. She is very young and the sudden change from winter to spring had been too much for her. The medicinal trees say that she wouldn't be able to survive this spring."

Saying this she broke down and started crying. She did not shed any tears but it was obvious that she was crying.

I could sympathise with her for there were many a creature who had to move away from the place they were living because the sudden onset of spring had brought about a lot of change. Though this spring was Aslan's blessing, there were many problems which the Narnian's had to face because of the change.

I could see Lucy's eyes glittering with tears. Susan stood up from her throne and went up to the crying Dryad.

'Lady, have faith in Aslan. He will do something for your daughter surely. Meanwhile, we will also do anything in our power to help your daughter. You have traveled far. Rest my dear Lady. We will send our best Dryad healers to your daughter with all the haste."

We ordered a group of five best dryad healers of Cair to visit Lady Cherrisa's daughter in her home in the Western March. But that evening I had a dream. In that dream Aslan told me to get Lady Cherrisa and her daughter to be transported to the Cair.

We did as we were told and it was not two days later that both Mother and daughter were in the Cair's orchard.

When we saw the yet unnamed daughter of Lady Cherrisa, we were shocked. She was a very young sapling. So young that her Dryad hadn't woken up yet. Lady Cherrisa had traveled with her tree on her own but her daughter had to be planted in a small pot and transported by a gryphoon.

On the second morning of their arrival, the little sapling was doing very well indeed. Her leaves were not drooping anymore and even we could see that she was now a healthy sapling. Aslan only knew what had happened but the Cair's soil acted as an elixir of health for her.

That morning Lady Cherrisa visited our court once more. She requested us to conduct her daughter's blessing ceremony. Of course we all agreed.

We had no idea what a dryads' blessing ceremony was, so we were very grateful when one of Susan's Ladies-in waiting Dryad explained it. It was a ceremony when a newly born Dryad was about to wake up for the first time. It was a very important and joyously celebrated occasion among Dryads.

On hearing the importance of blessing ceremony among Dryads we were absolutely nervous about what to do on the day of the ceremony. But one thing Susan's Ladies-in-waiting failed to mention was it was a ridiculously simple ceremony where we just had to water the sapling and say a few words asking for Aslan's blessing upon the plant and wishing it a long and fruitful life.

All of Lady Cherrisa's other children were present for the ceremony as were all the Cair's Dryad and Dryads from various other places. Basically, at least one dryad of each variety of tree was present there and it was during the time when Lucy was watering the sapling that the tiny little dryad came out of the sapling. And hence, she was named 'Lucy' by the excited group of trees.

'Lady Lucy grew up to be a very good friend of mine. She was the only one in all of Narnia that could match my sneakiness and play pranks on me easily and that annoyed me a lot which ultimately led to many prank wars between us. She was also a wonderful fighter and would accompany us on wars after she was seven years old. She was a very pleasant girl, an excellent spy and fighter and bore wonderfully tasty cherries."

There was one thing I always tried but she would never let me do it. I had always wanted to pluck a petal from her hair but she always swatted my hands away.

The day we had left for the Stag Hunt, she had offered me a bright red cherry from her hair though she had plucked it herself

When we stumbled back to the world of Spare Oom, my hunting attire, weapons etc., all disappeared and I was back in my clothes of that world but that cherry did not disappear. I found it in my pocket. I had got Queen Lucy to make it a sort of pendant for me with a thread and since that time, I had always worn it round my neck. It has been a year in our world that we got back from Narnia but this cherry never dried or rot."

With that, I pulled out the single cherry which hung round my neck by a thick red thread.

"I miss her a lot." I heard Lucy say quietly to Susan and even I could feel a lump in my throat. Lucy, or Scarlett as we had later named her for the sake of removing confusion, was like another sister to me and it hurt me to no end to know that she was dead. She saw all of the Golden Age of Narnia and was very healthy and happy at the time we left for the hunt of the White Stag.

I looked up and saw many a pair of eyes watering. I knew that they too were sad to know that we had lost such great friends of our time. Putting the cherry back inside my tunic, I said, "So, why don't you-"

Before I could complete Susan whispered. "Lucy?" Then shouted "Lucy?"

Lucy looked up at her in alarm and said, "I am right here Su"

We all looked at her confused but she just nodded her head and pointed saying, "Not you Lu. She. Lucy the Dryad."

"LUCY!" Lucy exclaimed joyously.

When I followed her gaze, my eyes nearly fell out of my sockets. Near the southern edge of the garden, an old, yet, beautiful and graceful dryad was standing. When she caught my eyes, she smiled and walked – or rather floated – up to us. Everyone stood up and looked at the approaching dryad.

This sleek and graceful woman could be none other than Lucy. Age seemed to have not affected her at all. Despite the old age, she still had that typical style of moving that openly told she was not a dryad to be messed with. Her hair was similar but longer and with more petals, cherries and flowers.

"Your Majesties, Pardon me, for I eavesdropped on your conversation." She smiled at each one of us. "But it's rather difficult to ignore the talks when you yourself are the topic."

"Are you really Lucy?" Peter asked her. We were all still dazed to see her.

"Yes, High King Peter. It is really me, Lucy." She replied.

"How are- are you st-still-?" I couldn't complete my sentence.

"How am I still alive?" she completed the sentence for me. "Well, the Dryads are long-lived. More so if they have been blessed by the Aslan's Chosen Ones. I was alive when the Cair was attacked. When the Castle was taken over, most of the Dryads went away with their trees. They did not venture far from Mount Paravel before they decided to be one with their trees. I did not leave the place I was planted by will of Aslan but I too joined my tree. Once we retreated inside our tree selves we were lost. I thought there was no hope for us. We all became just like the trees devoid of Dryads. I know not what happened during these thirteen hundred years. I was brought out of my sleep by Aslan's call. No other Dryad of our Time is alive anymore."

There was utter silence for a moment after this. Then we four Kings and Queens of Old forgot our title and rejoiced freely with our dear friend, Caspian and the Telmarine children joining in shortly.

The next day I was walking in the very same garden when Lucy, the dryad joined me. One look at her face and I knew what she was going to say.

"You are leaving, aren't you?" I asked her with a sudden lump in my throat. I don't know why I cried because somehow I had a feeling that I myself wasn't going to be here for long.

"Yes, I am going back to Cair Paravel." She replied quietly.

"Why?" I asked feeling like a kid throwing a tantrum.

"I am old now. I have lived for so many years. I do not think that I will live for much longer. Cair Paravel was the place I opened my eyes as a Dryad and I wish to pass onto Aslan's country from that place only."

"Cair Paravel is in ruins now. How can you live there?"

"King Edmund, there have been many times when you have forgotten that I am a Dryad not a human. I do not need a house to live in. I just need soil which I will have in plenty there." When I did not say anything she continued, "Edmund, there is a thing I want to give you."

With that she bowed her head and it took me a moment to understand her offer. My vision blurred due to the onslaught of tears but hesitantly, I reached out and gently plucked a petal out of her hair. Almost immediately, it was replaced by another petal.

Looking at me she smiled and I returned the smile.

Before joining Caspian, Peter, Susan, Lucy and Aslan at the assembly I pulled out the thread with the cherry and weaved in the petal along with the fruit. I once again put the thread round my neck and there it remained till that fatal train incident and afterwards…


End file.
